"This is a brief life. But in its brevity it offers us Some splendid moments Some meaningful adventures" Rudyard Kipling

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This photo shows me and my four children just before setting off for my son’s wedding. It is definitely the moment that sums up my feelings of deep pride, joy, and satisfaction.

If my children ever read my blog, which they don’t, they would be mortified to see themselves publicly displayed. Young people are never satisfied with how they look, and mine guard their privacy to greater or lesser degrees! However, I am so proud of having raised these wonderful, kind, caring, funny, hard-working and loving people that I am going to risk it.

We are so rarely all together, as three of them live abroad. But when we are together there is a bond so strong it feels incredible. We will all be together again in less than 2 weeks for my 70th birthday and I can’t wait.

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This fallen tree bridges a deep dip in Benhall woods. As I walk there each day with my little dog, Toffee, it also bridges the years and the generations for me.

I have lived opposite Benhall park and woods for over 30 years now. It is a delight to have such a wild and wonderful place in the heart of a residential area. It is filled with Silver Birch, hazel and oak trees as well as blackberry bushes.

I used to bring my children here to play when they were very young. Then, as teenagers they would play endlessly among the trees, riding their bikes (BMXs in those days) over the natural obstacle course formed long ago by the spoil from the construction of the railway that runs alongside. The bumps, dips and trenches make a perfect playground and the fallen trees add to the excitement and interest, providing endless hiding places and material for dens.

These days I bring my grandchildren to play in the woods and they love it just as much. There are always squirrels to spot and birds galore, including owls and woodpeckers that nest high up in the trees.

There is a stream running alongside the woods through a lovely park. In the stream there are ‘millers’ thumb’ fish, and this week I saw a Great Egret fishing for them!

In spring there was a carpet of snowdrops around the edges of the wood followed later by banks of bluebells in wild areas where nettles flourish.

I love the place.

Recently there has been a lot of controversy because the local council want to allow trainee tree surgeons to practice cutting down trees in the wood. I have to say I have mixed feelings about this. I do love the wildness of the wood, but, I can see some work has been carried out to good effect.

One of the saddest aspects of the wood is the tragic suicides that have taken place there in recent years. A young man hanged himself there some years ago. Then, tragically, a 15-year-old boy did in 2015 after possibly being bullied. And a 29-year-old woman sadly did the same last November while suffering from depression.

Since then I notice lots of the lower branches have been removed from the trees, making them difficult to climb and so less likely to be used for this sad purpose.

Each week I spend lots of time with my pre-school grandchildren and I love every minute of it. I have so much fun joining in their fantasy worlds where dinosaurs roar, toy trains hurtle through tunnels, sparkly unicorns upstage colourful ponies, and teddy bear families have picnics under blanket-covered playpens.

There is not a bit of my tiny house that hasn’t been given over to play, and that includes the garage, shed and garden.

I realised this week that although I may be getting close to my second childhood, I am actually reliving the one I missed and wished I had enjoyed.

I was born just after the second world war in a northern city which had been in dire straits with poverty and unemployment even before the shipyards, mines, factories and chemical works were bombed. The after effects of the war meant more joblessness, more shortages, and rationing of even essentials like food. Toys were a luxury that very few children in my area had, unless they were home made. Thankfully I had a clever mum who knitted dolls and soft toys, and a wonderful dad who wittled away at wood to make tops and whips and covered them with shiny paper for decoration.

Add to the mix the fact that in the 1940s children tended to be tolerated in the family rather than central to it as they are now. And, as well as all that, or maybe because it, I was a very sickly child who spent a lot of time in hospital, or a horrendous children’s convalescent home where the idea of play therapy was light-years away.

The result as I remember it, was a rather unhappy childhood, thankfully worlds away from the one that my grandchildren are enjoying.

However, the advantage of my early experience is that I developed a vivid imagination and have a buried need for creative play, which is at last being given free rein.

The trigger for this line of thought is in the photo. No, not my puppy, but the mouse! I have been collecting the characters from The Gruffalo story for the grandchildren and the mouse is rather special. It was created by a local woodcarver from a bit of fallen tree in the Forest of Dean. There is a marvellous museum there called the Dean Heritage Museum celebrating the mining and forest crafts that used to go on in the area. One of the attractions is a magnificent Gruffalo trail where each of the characters is carved from wood. I just had to have the mouse for my garden. I thought it would enjoy living among my daffodils for a while. As I stood atop them I wondered if I could find a home in my garden for a 6 foot Gruffalo? The grandchildren would love it!

The Gruffalo Trail

The mouse meets the snake

the mouse meets the Gruffalo

Thea checking that he really is asleep

Having fun atop the Gruffalo

Stanley and Thea atop the Gruffalo

Grandma’s house is very small
Just 2 bedrooms off the hall
A tiny kitchen, shiny-floored
A larder where my treats are stored
A shower with a seat inside
Wardrobes where doggy and I can hide
An archway leads into the lounge
Where furniture gets moved around
To make a station for my trains
Or an airport for ‘copters and planes
Sometimes it’s a racetrack for my cars
Or a farmyard with tractors, paddocks and barns
Grandma puts blankets over the table
To make a den, a forest or a stable
In the garden there’s gravel that scrunches when I walk
And a patio where I can draw pictures with chalk
In granddad’s shed there are drawers full of tools,
Boxes of nails, tubes of glue, jars of screws
A little mouse is nesting inside the wood store
While outside live birds, bees, hedgehogs and more
Grandma says her shed is a magical place
It’s furnished and carpeted and curtained with lace
Lavender hangs drying from the painted ceiling
While pine shelves are covered in things that have meaning
Like Icons from Finland, and medals from Lourdes
Calabash from Africa made out of gourds
Matrushkas from Moscow, maracas from Spain
I can’t wait for summer to play there again
Grandma loves it when I come to play
She makes indoor picnics we eat off a tray
She has lots of photos all over her wall
The best one is my mummy when she was small.

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I just have to post photos of my grandchildren to illustrate this week’s photo challenge. The theme is Partners and these two are definitely partners when it comes to getting up to mischief. But they adore each other!

Following on from the surprising result of our referendum on membership of the European Union this week, I feel sad that our partnership with the other European countries is coming to an end. So many people gave so much to bring peace and partnership to Europe during the wars, not least the combined services of army, airforce and navy. In their honour I am posting some photos I took on Remembrance Day at Westminster Abbey in London.

Airforce Wreath

Navy Wreath

Armed Forces WReath

Wall painting on side of Gloucesters’ Museum in Gloucester

I can’t resist putting in some of my favourite photos. Of course my little Dachsund, Dayna, is a wonderful companion for me, but her hero is my husband. When he is at the hospital for dialysis she often sits beside (or on) his slippers waiting for his return. The pair of ponies share a field near me so I guess they qualify as partners. And of course the garden birds are my constant delight and we have a partnership. I feed them regularly and they reward me by coming into my garden and sometimes even into the house like this little one!

Dayna the Dachsund

Missing her hero

A partnership of ponies

Rescue

And last but not least, partners for life ….literally!

My mum and Dad lived in parallel streets as children and went to the same school. They were friends from the age of 8 and eventually married in 1945. They were inseparable until my father died in 1993 and she followed him some years later.

I’m feeling very jubilant today as my middle daughter, Anna, has started her own business in the wonderful arty quarter of Gracia in Barcelona, Eloquent Barcelona Anna has lived and worked in Barcelona for many years, having travelled the world as a dancer and fallen in love with the Mediterranean climate.

Spain, like everywhere in the world these days, is a hard place to build a successful business. It would give Anna so much encouragement if all my blog’s followers logged onto her website and sent her good wishes and positive vibes. And, if you are on Facebook, could you like and share her Eloquent page please. This would give her just the boost she needs.

I know I am her mother, BUT, she really is a multi – lingual, very talented, highly skilled and experienced, hard-working and beautiful young lady. Not only does she provide English language lessons and tutoring for adults & teenagers (age 16-19) in Spain, but she also offers bespoke language services for businesses, including translations, editing and copywriting. She is also able to provide language & logistical support for International businesses setting up or working in Barcelona.

Thank you

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Well September, always my favourite month, has been particularly exciting this year. I was lucky enough to take a trip to Empuriabrava in Spain with some of my family, to celebrate my daughter’s 40th birthday. My photos come from there. Thanks to WPC, I became obsessed with grids and spotted them everywhere in the old town!

Empuriabrava is a wonderful place, especially in Autumn, when the vast majority of foreign tourists have gone home. It is built around national parks ~ lush and green thanks to the fresh water springs, and there are magnificent views of the Pyrenees in the distance. The beautiful beaches are deserted except for fearless young windsurfers. The parks are left to local children and older folk who make good use of the play and exercise equipment freely provided. The seemingly endless footpaths are given over to dog walkers, runners and cyclists. While walking along the footpath, I was surprised and delighted by a herd of extremely well-behaved goats following a farmer. They stopped occasionally to feed or explore the hedgerow, but were easily coaxed onward by the goat at the rear with a bell round his neck. They seemed happy and even managed what looked like a smile for the camera. The wide river Muga flows along one side of the footpath on its journey from the Alberes mountains of the eastern Pyrenees to the Mediterranean Sea at the beautifully named Gulf of Roses. The bamboo, rushes and trees beside it were filled with birds and butterflies while the steps leading up to the path were dotted with sunbathing lizards. Nearer the town, the fig trees were filled with the sound of squabbling parakeets. There seemed to be masses of these bright green birds with grey breasts nesting in every palm tree, which delighted my little grandson. They are feral monk parakeets apparently and they are quite common.

The new part of Empuriabrava is often referred to as the Venice of Spain. However, it reminded me strongly of St Petersburg. There is no Hermitage, and no Palace or fort, but the whole town is criss-crossed by canals, just like St Petersburg. Many of the luxurious white houses, villas and apartments back onto the canal and have their own moorings. Sleek boats of all shapes and sizes can be seen everywhere and they can be hired quite cheaply. It is such a leisurely way to get around.

The old town of Castello d’Empuries is only about 4km from the new town and is connected to it by the footpath that we walked each day. It is so quaint that if it were possible to remove the occasional car and delivery lorry, it would be easy to imagine yourself back in the Middle Ages. There are unspoilt historical monuments, including roman baths, and a fascinating Jewish Quarter. But the most exciting place for me was the restaurant in the Gothic Portal de la Gallarda. It is sited over the Gallard gate, which was the fortified entrance to the old town. There is an ancient moat around the wonderfully conserved walls, which extend to the Basilica of Santa Maria. We had a superb meal there, contrary to negative TripAdvisors’ reviews ~ and lots of lovely Cava!

My trip was the perfect restorative holiday, and it was rounded off at the airport in Girona when the Spanish ‘Red Arrows’, known as the Patrulla Aguila (Eagle Patrol), flew in. They had been performing a display in Mataro near Barcelona at the Festa al Cel. The display team is normally based at San Javier in the Murcia region so we were very lucky to see them. This was a week earlier than usual to avoid the regional elections for the government of Catalunya which take place this Sunday. These elections are hotly contested and there were flags on many of the houses displaying their allegiances.

Goodness I have been down memory lane again with this weekly photo challenge In fact I went through various stages ~ philosophical ~ historical ~ scientific ~ photojournalistic ~ spiritual and ended up just reminiscing. I have included a 3D photo of my youngest granddaughter afloat in her mother’s womb and a beautiful photo of a good friend afloat on Taung Tha Man Lake in Myanmar (Burma), which I did not take but have permission to use. So here are my offerings for the theme Afloat!

King Harry Ferry in Cornwall

wind surfing in Cornwall

My son dangling from a rock while climbing

Norway holiday

Plastic ducks at the swimming pool

Stained glass window reflection on column at Gloucester cathedral

Stained glass window afloat in a sculpture called Untouched by Angus Fairhurst